Heaven and Hell is pretty cringe, actually: Part One

*This story is under my folder titled “Heaven and Hell is pretty cringe, actually”. I’m not sure if I will still want this to be the title for my series, but this is what I have come up with. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33[2]”. Enjoy!*

I’m all dressed up, ready for the date. I’m wearing a short black dress that poofs out a bit like a flower, fishnets stockings and high brown boots, black lace gloves, a gray tie, and a black and red gem droplet headpiece that looks like a crown a little bit is on my long, white dyed hair that has black stripes on the front. I put on my black lipstick and black eyeshadow, along with some black markings that resemble twisting trees, bony claws, and husky shadows. I would have done a full corpse face makeup look but time is precious right now and it’s blistering hot outside, so I settled on a slightly lighter look instead, as I would still like to look nice and deadly.

Me and Amanda have been planning for this date for three whole months, awaiting the start of summer so that we wouldn’t have to deal with the burden of school. We can’t do it later in the summer, because both of our families have planned vacations for us, so we had to plan this carefully, on a perfect day!

And that perfect day is today, June 28th, 2025. We’re going to meet up in the abandoned pastel purple house in the woods with white trim and lace curtains.

We’ll eat caprese salad, egg sandwiches, cucumber and tzatziki sandwiches, salmon and pumpernickel sandwiches, chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, Oreos and chocolate chip cookies. We’ll drink bottled water and soda. I made the caprese salad, egg sandwiches, and bought the cookies, nuggets and refreshments while Amanda bought mozzarella sticks and made the salmon and pumpernickel sandwiches along with the cucumber and tzatziki sandwiches.

We left all the food and drinks in the house. The food is in tupperware in the house, along with the drinks, the portable speaker and the portable charger. We’re going to eat dinner together and watch the stars with music playing on the speaker, everything is going to be great…

Except for one thing. My parents won’t let me leave the house until I clean my room and when they say that, they usually mean clean a little bit of my side of the room, but mostly Adele’s side.

I already organized my side of the room, but I reorganized it just in case. My younger twin sister, Adele, never organizes everything. Her side of the room has everything all scattered and when it’s time to go to bed, she has to push off crumpled pieces of paper, books, and old childhood toys that she leaves on her bed. She left the house a few minutes earlier to go get ice cream. Our parents just let her go, without even telling her to clean her side of the room. It’s not like she’s going out to meet friends or a date or anything like that. She’s just going out by herself.

Honestly, I don’t understand how our parents have to make me do everything for Adele when they just let her do whatever she wants. I texted Amanda earlier and told her what happened. She said she understood, but I’m still annoyed, because we planned this whole thing out months in advance and-

I’m holding a piece of paper in my hand. It’s one of Adele’s crumpled written papers, but Amanda’s name stands out in so brightly that it’s almost burning my eyes. I know that she likes Amanda, like really likes Amanda, because she’s told me before, so it’s not a surprise for me to see her name in what looks like a melodramatic poem, but something about the way it’s written just isn’t right. It doesn’t even look like much of a poem, now that I’m really looking at it:

“Stella will not understand your gloom the way I do. I can see it in your brown eyes. There’s a sense of loneliness there, a sense of loneliness that only I can fix. Your laugh rings like bells and your hair shines like autumn leaves. When you walk, it’s as if a fae creature were dancing throughout the threads of time. Amanda, I don’t understand why you and Stella are going in that old house. Such a drafty place doesn’t fit a lovely girl like you.

No matter. Tonight, I shall meet you and then, when I bring a silver blade to slice your skin as pale as dove’s feathers, your soul shall be released into Heaven like the angel you are and I will watch over your body as a shrouded shadow. I’ll keep away anyone who will ruin you or try to take you away from me.

My heart is lost without you.”

What…what? Did…Did I just read about how Adele wants to kill my girlfriend? I just…I have to…hold on.

No, I can’t blink into reality, because this isn’t a nightmare. As odd as Adele is, I never thought that she’d go so far as murder.

“MOM!” I yell out. I can’t hide the fear in my own voice, just as I can’t get rid of the spiraling thoughts that have been planted in my head. What if I’m too late? What if Amanda is already lying dead in the house, all bloody and mangled, just because my sister is all crazy with “keeping her” and-

“What is it, Stella?! What’s wrong?” Mom asks.

I show her the note, hoping that maybe Mom will be able to figure out what to do. She squints at the note a little bit, trying to make out Adele’s shaky handwriting. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest I swear I can hear it ringing in my ears and in my brain, like it’s trying to block out all of the other sounds from me.

“Stella, you know how Adele is. She gets all dramatic over things. It’s how she expresses her feelings. I wouldn’t take this seriously. And aren’t you supposed to be cleaning? You shouldn’t be looking at other people’s things.”

Mom hands me back the note, an expression of irritation on her face, like she’s annoyed with me. Me, out of all people.

“Yes, but doesn’t this bother you a little bit? I seriously don’t think that Adele was kidding with this. Shouldn’t we call the police? Shouldn’t we do something? Should-“

“Clean up the room or you’re not going out at all.”

“But Mom-“

She’s already walked away. I could call after her. I could even try talking to Dad, but now that I think about it, he might act the same way as Mom. I just…I can’t believe she’s not more alarmed by it. Dad is reading right now, Mom stops by to check on me after every fifteen minutes. I could keep trying to get her to listen, or…

I walk over to the window and open, jumping onto the backyard and going over to the fence. I’m going to try walking through other people’s yards to get to the woods, because I’m not going to waste my time doing somebody else’s chores. It’s a good thing our room is on the first floor of our house, or else I would have hurt myself.

Mom is going to be mad at me, I know it, I just know it, but I can’t think about that right now.

I’ve got to stop Adele.

…………………………………………………………………

After a while of running, I’ve finally made it to the local woods. I feel completely winded out and what I’m wearing doesn’t exactly help me right now, but it’s good for me to run because then I’ll be prepared to chase after Adele in the house.

Because right in front of me, there is the pastel purple house with the peeling, cracked paint, the house that me and Amanda like to visit. Our spot. We’re not sure what the house’s story is, but it has been there ever since we were little and it’s still here today.

I open the door and run up the stairs to the room where we left all of the stuff, the room where we going to watch the stars, the room that has that strange groaning noise in the closet that we’ve joked was the “ghost of the house”. Goodness, I hope that I’ll be able to get to her in time. I really, really hope that-

I’ve gotten to the room. On the molding hardwood floor, I see a girl with long, auburn hair that’s so dark it almost looks like pure red lying face down, her lavender skirt and knee-high purple and white striped stockings a pop of color in the dismal house. It’s a burst of brightness, but she’s not moving. She’s lying completely still, not breathing, not even twitching a finger and the red that surrounds her isn’t just her hair, but it’s blooming out of her in puddles, falling through the cracks on the floorboards, slipping through the husky reality of the house.

Adele is crouched next to her dead body, watching her like a hunched doll creature would. She looks just like me, except she doesn’t dye her hair and she wears clothes that resemble something an old doll would wear. In her hand, she holds a gleaming silver knife, dripping with Amanda’s blood.

She doesn’t know that I’m here yet, but she will know soon.

I take out my cell phone and dial 9-1-1.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“You have to come to 5623 Cherwood House, my-“

“Cherwood? Isn’t that house abandoned? Is this a prank call?”

Adele’s head springs up once she hears me. I think she knows what I’m calling, because she’s getting up and running away, but the police need to come here now. Right now.

“This isn’t a prank! I was going to go out on a date with my girlfriend in that house when-“

“That house? Really? Are you sure it was THAT house?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I know where we planned the date. I know it sounds crazy, but my sister murdered my girlfriend! You have to come here quick, or-“

“Alright, alright. We’re coming. It’s going to be okay.”

The dread settles deeper in me once the call has ended. The woods’ internet signal isn’t entirely perfect, but it’s not terrible, so I thought that I’d call 9-1-1.

Now I think that I’ve made a bad choice, because what if they don’t believe me? What if they never come? What if they’re too late? Why did I do that? Why did I just do that?

The groaning in the closet that me and Amanda have joked about so many times before grows louder, almost like a sorrowful moan. Part of me wants to open the door and see what’s hiding in there, but another part of me is scared of what could be lurking, what could be waiting.

I crouch down and grab a piece of wood that could very well be a stake that’d impale a vampire. This house has all kinds of debris and I’ll need this wood piece when I chase Adele.

I made a mistake, but Adele made an even bigger one thinking that she could just kill Amanda and get away with it.

…………………………………………………………………

I was originally going to run after her when I was coming here, so why didn’t I do that beforehand? Why did I even bother to call the police?

No matter. I’m going after her now. She’s far away from me, but at least I can see her. She probably thinks that she did nothing wrong, that she’s a “poor girl”, because all she ever wanted was to “love and be loved”. She can say all that and people feel sorry for her, they act like I’m too mean to her, but what they don’t realize is that Adele never likes anything or anyone that truly belongs to her. She feels the need to take what I have, as if what I have is better than what she has. She’s been doing it ever since we were kids and I’m tired of it. I’m going to end it now.

“Stella, stop! I just wanted to save her!”

I’ve gotten close to Adele and managed to push her to the ground. I keep one hand around her neck, tight enough so she doesn’t leave, but loose enough so she doesn’t choke. Tears stain her brown eyes and for some reason, my eyes are starting to get a little watery. It’s definitely not for Adele, though. It’s for Amanda and the dust that rises in this house.

“The audacity you have to tell me to stop. You didn’t think twice before you stabbed Amanda to death, now you’re going to learn what Mom and Dad could never have the guts to teach you.”

I reach over to grab the wooden piece that I’ve left lying next to us. I didn’t realize that Adele could move her arms a little bit, so I have to hold back a wince when I feel her stabbing me. She can’t escape, but goodness, it hurts so much, like my insides are being poured out, like I’m being dissected for a school project.

My vision is starting to get a little blurry, but I have the wooden piece. I just need to stab her in the heart, just like a vampire. I’ve got to slay the monster, paint the floors with her blood, because Adele was always, always preened after and now she’s going to see how terribly awful she is, now it will be revealed to whatever lurks out there the true ugliness in Adele.

I plunge the wood piece into her heart, the blood making an uncomfortable squelching sound and…and…oh god, there’s so much blood…blood from Adele…blood from me…how many times did Adele stab me? No, it’s okay. I just need to get up and go home. I have to hold onto life, just like in the movies. I have to wait for the cops…explain what happened…go to the hospital…how am I going to live like this now that Amanda is dead? This day is going to be one of those days that haunts me forever, that I’ll dream about when I’m an adult, that-

I feel the ground drop under me as I get up.

…………………………………………………………………

I open my eyes. My back hurts, my head hurts, but…where am I? Everything looks so dark, I don’t see any form of light.

Oh wait, now I do. I see this spotlight reflecting on this woman with amber-brown toned skin and long, black hair. She’s wearing black eyeshadow and black lipstick. Her dress is black, her wings, boots, and halo that seem to drip with the stars are gray, and her eyes sparkle in an unnatural blue.

Before I can even ask the woman what she is, her lips curl into a smile and she says:

“Welcome, Stella and Adele Betancourt, to Hell! I am Carrie, the ruler of Hell! Now, the both of you have committed the sixth sin in the Ten Commandments, which is “Thou shalt not kill”. Murder is bad, which is why the both of you will be doing chores for all eternity! You’ll have plenty of time to think about your actions! Now, any questions?”

Carrie smiles, her blue eyes glittering a tad bit more than before and her teeth look all too white. I don’t see Adele, though, so…

Wait a minute. There she is. Something in Hell made everything a bit lighter and now I see Adele standing up. She has light pink feathery wings on her back and white, curling horns on her head. Is that the pain I’m feeling? Do I have horns and wings? Are we…are we really in Hell right now? It’s not like how I imagined, that’s for sure.

“Yes, I have two questions. Where are all the flames and where is Satan? Or Lucifer? Or whatever the heck his name is? Like, this isn’t real Hell.” Adele says.

As I get up from the ground, I see that Carrie’s left eye twitches a bit. Oh goodness, if this is for real, I sure hope that Adele didn’t just make her mad, as I’m in enough of a mess already.

“Hell doesn’t have any flames, Adele. Flames aren’t scary enough. Also, Satan and Lucifer aren’t the same person. They’re completely different and not even real. Now that we have that out of the way, the both of you, GET TO WORK! There’s going to be a whole lot of cleaning for you two to do.” Carrie shrieks.

She disappears like a firework without any sound, gray and black glittering smoke left in her wake and now, I see papers scattered everywhere, two mops and two brooms, mud stains, blood stains, all kinds of stains on the ground and…and…

We have to clean it all up. Great. This is just amazing.

…………………………………………………………………

I don’t know how long it’s been. I just know that I still haven’t woken up from cleaning in Hell and that I probably have horns and wings now.

I hope that Amanda is okay up in Heaven. I would like to see her, but I doubt I can actually escape Hell. Adele thinks that we can escape. She says that there must be a way out, that she’s sorry and that she’d like to reunite me with Amanda because of “the power of true love”.

I’ve told her before that it’s impossible and that Adele can’t expect to make up with me, but she’s always not doing her chores, “searching for a way out”, so I end up doing both of our chores before Carrie figures out that Adele isn’t doing what she’s supposed to do and sends her back.

I’m doing some cleaning right now. Adele is out searching, but I wish that she’d just stop. We’re both dead. We’re both in Hell. This is her fault. Adele killing Amanda was the final straw. If she hadn’t stabbed Amanda, then I wouldn’t have chased her around the house and killed her. We would all be still alive if Adele was just normal for one day of her life, if-

“Stella, come here! I found something!” Adele cries out.

I hear her running towards me. I stop mopping, because I can’t focus on cleaning with her yapping in my ear. Every time we (well, mostly me) are done cleaning, the mess comes right back up again and then we must clean it for another time. My hands feel all weary and broken, but not as worn out as when I held the wood piece, when I felt the splinters grazing my skin.

I turn around and face her. Adele looks breathless, which I find weird, since we’re both dead, but nothing makes sense anymore, so it doesn’t matter.

“I was walking, then I was running, then I tripped and fell, grabbing onto the floor. I scratched the floor and Stella-Stella-I felt the ground open up beneath me! I think I found our exit, just…just come quick, before Carrie realizes!” Adele says, her eyes glimmering with joy.

Joy? Joy? What is there to be happy about? How is she certain that there’s a way out? I swear, if she’s trying to trick me-

Adele grabs my hand and runs, holding tight so that I don’t run away. Any minute now, Carrie could find us. She might not just make us clean, either. Maybe she’ll really torture us, because I’ve heard disembodied screaming in the distance before. We’ve both committed murder, so making us clean forever certainly was generous of Carrie, I think.

I don’t want Adele to screw this up.

We’re standing in front of long, deep scratches on the ground, scratches that have turquoise light emitting from them.

“There it is! Our ticket out! I just need to make deeper scratches and then we can get on out of here!” Adele says.

She lets go of my hand and proceeds to dig feverishly on the ground as though she’s hunting a dog for bones. I kind of just want to go back to cleaning, but I cannot leave Adele behind when she’s making such a fool of herself. I have to be there to calm Carrie down, because what if she stops acting all smiley and actually gets vicious? I’ve seen a little bit of that deep rooted anger before and I’m not sure how much longer Carrie can hide it. I know she’s going to lose it one day and I don’t want to be around to see it. I don’t want to be the one experiencing her fury. I-

I don’t believe it. Adele has managed to dig a big enough hole for the both of us to jump out of. Turquoise light is almost blinding me. The ground feels like dirt, yes, but it feels like very, very hard dirt, like the kind that people pat down after a lot of gardening.

I crouch down to get a closer look at the hole, because it wouldn’t hurt to see how it looks deep down, would-

And I’ve been pushed right into the hole. Lovely.